Lukashenko increases arrests amid persistence of protests in Belarus

Neither the threats nor the military deployed in the city center or the armored vehicles discourage the demonstrators for democracy in Belarus.

A tide of tens of thousands of people have protested this Sunday in Minsk and other cities of the country to demand Aleksandr Lukashenko to leave power and call new elections.

The authoritarian leader has responded to the 29th day of protests by cordoning off the main streets of the capital, where thousands of riot police and military tried to prevent the concentration of citizens and have even used tear gas on some protesters.

There are more than 200 detainees across the country, according to civil rights organizations, and several have been injured.

The public keeps the pressure on Lukashenko.

Under the slogan 'march for unity', some 100,000 people have taken to the streets in Minsk, according to estimates by independent media.

Also in Brest, Grodno, Gomel and other cities in the country.

For the fourth Sunday in a row, they have marched with thousands of traditional white and red Belarusian flags and banners, under heavy rain and the intense presence of hooded police and uniformed men, backed by water cannons, barriers and shields.

"Go!" They yelled.

"Shame!" They cried out to the uniformed men.

The Interior Ministry had already warned that it would take more steps to suppress protests and prevent "illegal actions."

And the riot squads have stepped up their actions to block the protesters.

The arrests have not been massive again, as at the beginning of the mobilizations, after the August 9 elections in which there was evidence of fraud and Lukashenko claimed his sixth term with 80% of the votes, but they have increased in the last days.

• Kolesnikova, the only one of the trio of opponents still in Belarus: "Lukashenko lives in an alternate reality"

They have also become strategic and exemplary.

This week, a group of masked men dressed in black arrested two well-known Belarusian television presenters, who had supported the protests: Denis Dudinsky and Dmitri Kojno.

On Saturday night, a Belarusian state channel showed video messages from informants.

In the images they acknowledge their "mistake" for participating in "illegal marches."

"By my example I want to warn all those who attend rallies," says Dudinsky.

"There will be consequences and they may not be as mild as they think," he continues.

Both are serving 10 days of arrest in a Belarusian detention center.

A good number of journalists have been arrested in recent days - also this Sunday, when riot police detained, among others, a journalist while he was covering the protests live for the radio;

and some have been deprived of accreditation to work in the country.

And this week, at the beginning of the course, dozens of students were arrested inside the university building, where an act against Lukashenko had been organized.

Since Russia made its displays of support more visible, Lukashenko has clung even closer to power, which he has held for 26 years.

In exchange for this support from the Kremlin, the authoritarian leader seems more than willing to move forward with the union agreement signed with the neighboring country 20 years ago on points that until now had been opposed and that can lead to a situation of great dependence from Minsk to Moscow.

Few analysts doubt that it will end up making concessions and will end up accepting not only energy agreements much less beneficial for Belarus but also fiscal pacts or the extension and even expansion of the two military points - a radar station and a communication center - than Russia has on Belarusian soil.

The president insists that the mobilizations for democracy are spurred on from abroad and Minsk and Moscow speak of "interference."

Western countries watch these movements with caution.

Weeks ago, the European Union seemed willing to move forward with its sanctions against Belarus for electoral fraud and the violent crackdown on peaceful protesters, but some fear that too 'severe' a package will throw Lukashenko directly into the arms of Vladimir Putin or even provoke some kind of Russian military intervention in the country - two weeks ago the Russian leader claimed that he had created a police unit at the request of the authoritarian leader ready to intervene if needed.

Faced with this waiting posture, the Baltic countries and Poland - which share a border with Belarus, where Lukashenko has deployed the Army citing an alleged threat from NATO - are demanding more and more severe sanctions.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have already

authoritarian leader and 29 other Belarusian officials

and are banned from entering their territory.